Alexander: San Diego voting 'meh' on the Chargers

Amazingly, there are apparently still members of the national pro football media who seem surprised that the city of San Diego rejected Measure C so resoundingly last week.

But it should be no surprise at all, considering the circumstances, that “Chargers-to-L.A.” talk is resurfacing. Jason LaCanfora posted the latest speculation/rumor/leak on CBSSports.com Sunday morning, citing “sources close to the situation” in surmising that the Chargers “have little recourse but to exercise their option to join the Rams in Los Angeles.”

And if you suspect that Fred Maas or Mark Fabiani, or both, were among the “sources” for this latest report, give yourself a high five. It probably wouldn’t be the first time a Dean Spanos lieutenant surreptitiously stirred the pot.

Nor should it be considered a coincidence that the story appeared a couple of hours before another sparsely attended Chargers home game. Most of the L.A. speculation stories tend to break on home game days.

But it is again a frequent topic of conversation in the only town that truly cares about the Chargers: Will Spanos accept the role of second banana to Stan Kroenke’s Rams or will he ask for another year to try to make something work in San Diego?

The conventional wisdom — and may we remind you that conventional wisdom has taken quite a beating lately — is that in getting just shy of 43 percent of the vote last week despite outspending stadium opponents nearly 57-1, Spanos will come to the realization that there is no reasonable future in San Diego. This, even as it seems evident that both the league and Rams owner Stan Kroenke would prefer the Chargers stay right where they are.

It is worth noting that last Tuesday’s final count, save for some uncounted provisional ballots, had 193,249 voting no and 144,356 voting yes. Those 337,605 votes cast were more than for any of the other 11 local measures on the San Diego ballot, but they were also less than half of the city's total voter registration of 716,454.

Apathy, anyone?

For those who missed it, Chargers home attendance through five home dates is lagging a little less than 11,000 per game behind their 2015 pace, with an average of 55,820 (including 55,107 Sunday, many of them wearing the Dolphins’ aqua and orange).

True, the schedule has been unattractive compared to last year, when the Steelers, Raiders and Bears had visited by this point. But the attendance numbers probably won’t get much better for a 4-6 team with a dwindling chance of making the playoffs.

Will Spanos realize at some point that much of the apathy is of his own creation?

He hasn’t yet. Consider his cryptic statement last week as Measure C went down in flames:

“Over the coming weeks you may hear news about steps that we must take to preserve all of our options. But please know that I don’t intend to make any decisions until after the regular season ends …”

In other words, if he again is exploring land in Orange County for a practice facility, San Diegans shouldn’t take it the wrong way.

Right.

The likelihood is that Spanos and his sycophants will use the attendance numbers to defend any decision to move north. Yet were the Chargers to actually set up shop in Los Angeles, they’d be the fourth most popular football team in greater L.A, behind the Rams, USC and UCLA. (Maybe even fifth or sixth, behind Azusa Pacific and the ghost of Long Beach State’s program.)

This is, we remind you, a franchise that has underachieved on the field (one playoff berth since 2009), took a scorched earth approach to stadium negotiations, held relocation over the heads of its fans, and turned personable again only when it wanted something (i.e., their votes).

Understandably, fans have disengaged. Many have vowed not to give Spanos anything, be it money for a ticket or a subsidy for a stadium even if someone else pays for it.

This Space has suggested previously that the path to a new stadium in San Diego would be easier if Spanos sold the team.

But maybe it could work under current ownership ... if the Chargers were willing to reconsider Mission Valley rather than insisting on downtown, were willing to add to the $650 million that the team and league were prepared to contribute in the Measure C plan, and showed a willingness to listen to opponents rather than trying to shout them down or denigrate them.

I won’t hold my breath. There’s a better chance — far better — that Spanos will move and then sell.

Sports Illustrated’s Peter King put it this way Monday: “The Chargers in L.A. is just not smart. It’ll be Clippers II.”

Yeah, and Spanos may be searching for his very own Steve Ballmer as we speak.

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